Spontaneity at its finest

I had a conversation with my mom earlier this evening. It was one of the conversations where I would end up crying. We talked about my degree. I stopped her before she could even add a word to her line “I had a friend who told me that English literature-“. It pains me every time my mom starts this conversation. It pains me how she shows distrust on my decisions. It pains me that she rubs it in that my degree is a pointless one. It pains me to see how she listens to what other people say about my major but question everything that I say to defend my course. It pains me to see myself walking out because no body understands!

The point of this entry is to make those people who thinks a degree in English is irrelevant realize that we are one important part in the fast paced world.

It seems pointless for many to earn a degree in English, especially my grandmother who thinks it is pure nonsense and that I wasted my parents’ money taking a degree that wouldn’t pay at all. I argued, defended and even cried just to make them understand that this is what I love doing. I didn’t understand why they don’t understand me until I realized they never understood writing and literature at all. Their lack of background and/or interest about literature and the art and science of writing is what makes me an undesirable or a misunderstood part of the equation. There seem to be a lack of appreciation and understanding of liberal arts courses in a world where everything is scientific and corporate, and everything that you do should make you earn moolah (money, that is)!

If only they make a bit of research other than relying on here-says and unverifiable stories, they would see that there is more than what meets the eye. Literature is a very relevant factor in the formation and recording of the history and culture of every society, and writing, being a tool in its functions, is a relevant part of it. Think of this: literature is relevant in the studies of anthropologists, archaeologists and historians. Here are some of the proofs:

The importance of the study of literature and the recording of history plays a very significant role to the study of culture and history. Thus, making English majors, as one field of concentration, is relevant to society and not pointless.

Another point is that English majors are flexible. We can be placed in almost every field to do recording of tasks, make communication letters and/or statements and a lot more. There are many other jobs that a degree in English is useful.

4 thoughts on “A Degree in English is not POINTLESS, you just don’t get it”

I do understand what you say. You´re right, may be it´s your family lack of interest in literature what make them devalue what you´re studying. May be they don´t understand the scope of your knowledge and the opportunities it may give you.
Don´t feel alone, my dear. Here in Argentina, English teachers, translators, or linguistics researchers are not considered to deserve the same respect as a doctor, an accountant, or any other proffessional in “the important fields” of expertise (as people say). Plus that, there´s a lot of people that claims to be able to speak a fluent English and to do translations (which is far from being true), resulting in a general devaluation of the real skills to do so. Employers do not pay more to those employees who really have STUDIED HARD to become bilingual, and teachers are underpaid too.
Therefore, it is not unusual to find parents trying to persuade their kids to study something else … whatever that be …
Be patient!! They´ll understand eventually!

Jode, you need not bother listening to this misconception of being an English major. Bother when you begin to feel unsatisfied by your own craft. Even scientists are not well appreciated especially those who are still doing their researches, people think what these nerds are doing are pointless yet at the end of the day, the society benefits to their greatest scientific discoveries. And sometimes (or often), even the greatest discoveries and/or inventions do not get the attention they deserve. Think about a Cancer patient who goes through Chemotherapy, would he/she necessarily consider knowing who discovered or perhaps, developed such technology? Jode, this is the real world. We may do the greatest of things, reach the highest of summits, but the highest regard does not necessarily follow. Nonetheless, we are to respond to our ‘calling’, attend to our duties in the society in our field. And these people who lack the appreciation for our calling are not necessarily wrong, they just happen to look at the world using their own perspectives (which has been influenced by their field of interest). 😀

Because a degree in Arts is a gamble.
I even want to pursue a career in arts but my sister told me it would be better to set off for a career where you’ll find economic stability and set aside interests as a hobby. She says she doesn’t want hobbies and work to be the same and one cause it’s pretty boring and makes less challenging. Well, I heeded her advice, took Chemical Engineering to make some moolah (I hope so). But I think it’s always best to follow what the heart says… and avoid regrets at all cost. 🙂

yey! thanks for the appreciation. My mom always tell (no, wait! ‘nag’ would be a better term) me that I should go for courses that would make me land a stable job like accountancy or something. But I am not really a fan nor interested in such things and risking my attention span and patience is never an option. I followed my heart instead. I appreciate your comment. 🙂